Voltage regulator having circuitry responsive to load transients

A method for responding to back-to-back load transients in a voltage regulator, the method comprising:

• sensing a voltage of a gate terminal of a pass transistor of the voltage regulator;
• determining that a first load transient has created an elevated output voltage at an output of the voltage regulator;
• adjusting an offset of an output of a differential amplifier coupled to the gate terminal of the pass transistor to prevent a difference between the elevated output voltage and a reference level from grounding the gate terminal of the pass transistor;
• and
• preventing the pass transistor from turning OFF completely in response to the first load transient so that the voltage regulator can respond more quickly to a second load transient, the first load transient and the second load transient being back-to-back transients.

A system comprising:

• a load configured to generate a load transient;
• and
• a dual-rail linear voltage regulator configured to supply an output voltage and output current to the load at an output, the dual-rail linear voltage regulator including:
• a pass transistor configured to generate a voltage drop between an input and the output based on an error signal at a controlling terminal;
• a differential amplifier configured to generate the error signal based on a difference between the output voltage and a reference level, the load transient causing a temporary change in the output voltage;
• and
• a transient compensation circuit configured to adjust an offset of the error signal to an adjusted value to prevent the temporary change in the output voltage from turning the pass transistor completely OFF.